Je T'aime Plus Qu'hier Moins Que Demain
by The Great Kelly The Great
Summary: He was taken from her...she and others set out to get him back...they were separated. Separation, many times over. Elements...an important potion...it went awry. Friendships...unexpected places...Death Eaters. Love...hate...sorrow...joy. A tragedy arose.
1. Default Chapter

General Disclaimer: All characters and settings in this fic are property of J.K. Rowling.  I am not making any money and no copyright infringement intended.  The song _Butterfly Kisses_ belongs to Bob Carlisle.  

Please remember this, as I will only be making a further disclaimer when necessary.

A/N: Please review.  Flames are welcome, provided they are not unfounded.  I cannot stress how much I want to hear reader's opinions.  

I first wrote this fic a long while ago, and posted it on HP Author Fics, when that was still a category.  But when that was deleted, my fic was too.  So I re-wrote it and edited some, had it beta-ed and now here it is again! 

This fic is dedicated to my _amazing_ beta, **attackofthejello**.  I owe how much better this fic has gotten o her.  Please go read her work.  

JE T'AIME PLUS QU'HIER MOINS QUE DEMAIN

By: The Great Kelly The Great 

**Prologue**

It was to be a combined ceremony.  The altar was circular, so the priest would be walking around marrying each couple.  The cathedral was one of the magic population.  They had all drawn straws to see who would be married first.  The order was Virginia (Ginny) Anne Weasley, marrying Draco Thomas Malfoy.  Followed by Ronald Michael Weasley and Lavender Elizabeth Brown.  Lastly would be Harry James Potter, marrying Hermione Vivian Rebecca Granger.    That day was the thirtieth, the day immediately prior to the ceremony.  The rehearsal was taking place.  Everyone had a bad case of pre-wedding jitters, but none knew what they were in for.  

**Chapter One**   

          "Where's Draco?" Hermione Granger wailed.  "He has the rest of the wedding party!"  Draco Malfoy had become her friend when he proved himself a decent person in fifth year, when Ginny had been spiraling into depression and he had been the one to stop her from hurting herself.  As for Harry, Ron and Lavender's opinion of Draco, they had been much harder to convince, but eventually agreed he was a trustworthy person.  

"He _is_ coming," Ginny assured Hermione.  "He said he needed to talk to his boss."

Draco worked at the Department of the Magical Games and Sports.  Hermione, Ron and Harry were all Aurors while Lavender worked as a veterinarian for magical creatures.  Ginny, as a dress robes designer, brought a while new meaning to the term "fashion".  She herself had designed Lavender, Hermione and her own wedding dress, ready for the next night. 

It was the night of the rehearsal.  Harry and Ron were talking to the priest while Ginny was comforting Hermione.  Hermione, unfortunately, had a knack for going ballistic when nervous or under extreme pressure.  Lavender was walking around the cathedral, checking that everything was in order.

"Relax, Hermione, just breathe," Ginny said soothingly.  "Draco will be here in a moment."

"So sorry to disappoint, but I'm already here."

Ginny and Hermione looked up to see Draco standing in the doorway with the rest of the wedding party.  Harry, Ron and Draco were the grooms; Hermione, lavender and Ginny were brides and each couple had a different wedding party.  Various Weasleys were included as well as Sirius, many of Draco's family members (all of whom looked exactly alike) and a few people who claimed to be friends of cousins of brothers of great-great aunts.  The best man in Ron and Lavender's wedding was, for example, Charlie (the Weasley brothers had argues endlessly about this, finally resolving it in a heated Sickle toss).  The best man in Ginny and Draco's was Bill (who was second in the Sickle toss).  Hermione and Harry's Sirius, whose name had been cleared years ago.  

"Right," Draco called.  "Places everyone.  We don't have all day!"

"I believe I am in charge," said the priest with a twinkle in his eye. The priest was Albus Dumbledore's brother, Aberforth, who had become a clergyman after practicing inappropriate charms on a goat.  Now he performed weddings and mass for those of the magical community.  

"Right," Aberforth called.  "Places everyone.  We don't have all day!"

Draco frowned.  "That's exactly what I said," he said.  

"I know.  Which is precisely why I chose those particular words.  Now, Ron and Lavender, please come over here with your wedding party."  A whole slew of people followed, among them a ring bearer, flower girl, bridesmaids, best man and a few unnamed others.  

"No, no, you start back there.  First the flower girl, that's it.  Then the ring bearer, now you three girls, lastly Lavender.  That's it.  Good.  Now I say 'Dearly beloved, yaddah yaddah yaddah."  

"I'm not sure I've ever heard a priest say 'yaddah yaddah yaddah' before," Harry whispered to Hermione.  She laughed quietly in response.

They were sitting in the pews to make it look as if there were actually people sitting there.  They sat in silence for a while, Harry's arm casually draped over Hermione's shoulders.  Next to Hermione sat Ginny and Draco.      

When Ginny came home to the Burrow one night (Harry and Hermione had been conveniently present) saying she was marrying a Malfoy, they were all shocked.  Well, the rest of the Weasley clan was.  The Dream Team (as Harry, Ron and Hermione were called) had expected it.  Mrs. Weasley had been surprised at first, but went to great lengths to try and include him.   Unfortunately, Fred and George had been much harder to convince.  They eventually agreed, but not before taking Draco aside and telling him if he ever hurt Ginny they would personally hunt him down and see to his untimely demise.

But that had been a year ago.  Ginny and Draco had been second to get engaged, Ron and Lavender the first.  Harry had said he was waiting for the perfect moment, which Hermione believed.  Thinking of the moment, Hermione remembered it perfectly…

They had gone out to dinner at their favourite restaurant, a small place on the outskirts of London.  Harry had suggested a walk, so they left, hand in hand.  They walked farther and farther, talking idly.  Without realising it, Hermione had been led to a small grove.  The stars were brighter there, away from all of London's lights. 

"It's so beautiful," Hermione breathed.  "Like one of those perfect nights you always hear about, with so many more stars than back in the city."

"I know," Harry agreed, hardly aware of what he was agreeing to.  He was incredibly nervous.  He had been carrying the ring around for weeks, waiting for the perfect moment.  He was nervous that she didn't love him enough, though after he wondered why he had been scared.  

"Harry?  What's wrong?"

"Nothing.  Hermione?"

"Hmm?"

"Will you…?"  _No, wait you fool!_ He chastised himself.  _You have to get down on your knee._  _Oh this_ is _complicated_.  

"What Harry?" Hermione asked, her eyes inquiring.  

He slipped the soft, velvet-covered box out of his pocket without her noticing.  

Bending down, Harry said, "Hermione Vivian Rebecca Granger, I love you so much.  I ask you to marry me."   

She stared down at him and the open ring box in his hand.  

"Please say something," he said, his anxiety increasing.  

"Yes," she whispered.  "Yes, I will marry you.  I would be a fool to say no."

He stood and slipped the ring onto her finger.  It was a gold band, with a diamond in the centre.  

"Look on the band," Harry said.  Hermione slid the ring off her finger and stared at it.  Engraved on the gold were the words: _To Hermione Granger, From Harry Potter, with all his love._

"I…don't know what to say," Hermione said.  "Except that I love you so much.  Je T'aime Plus Qu'hier Moins Que Demain."

"What does that mean?" Harry asked, as he pulled her into and embrace.

"I love you more than yesterday, less than tomorrow."

Hermione whispered that to him again, there in the church, watching Ginny and Draco's rehearsal (while she remembered and reminisced, Ron's and Lavender's had been completed).  It had become a sort of ritual for them, one would whisper the French, the other would whisper the translation.

"All right, Harry and Hermione," Aberforth called.  They both stood.

"Actually, no," Aberforth continued.  "Hermione, do you want to go through your song first?"

"Sure."  Hermione had a beautiful voice, as Harry had discovered in their fifth year, and she was singing _Butterfly Kisses_ while Lavender and Ginny danced with their fathers at the reception.  

"Hermione, go ahead and start when you're ready."  She began to sing, her voice filling all the corners of the cathedral.  

There are two things I know for sure  
She was sent here from heaven, and she's Daddy's little girl.  
As I drop to my knees by her bed at night  
She talks to Jesus and I close my eyes  
And I thank God for all of the joy in my life, oh but most of all...  
  
For butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer  
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair  
Walk beside the pony Daddy, it's my first ride  
I know the cake looks funny Daddy, but I sure tried  
Oh, with all that I've done wrong, I must have done something right  
To deserve a hug every morning, and butterfly kisses at night.  
  
Sweet sixteen today  
She's looking like her Mama, a little more everyday.  
One part woman, the other part girl  
To perfume and makeup, from ribbons and curls.  
Trying her wings out in a great big world  
But I remember...  
  
Butterfly kisses after bedtime prayer  
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair.  
You know how much I love you Daddy, but if you don't mind  
I'm only gonna kiss you on the cheek this time.  
With all that I've done wrong, I must of done something right  
To deserve her love every morning, and butterfly kisses at night.  
  
All the precious time,  
Oh, like the wind the years go by.  
Precious butterfly,  
Spread your wings and fly.  
  
  
She'll change her name today.  
She'll make a promise, and I'll give her away.  
Standing in the bride's room just staring at her  
She asks me what I'm thinking, and I said I'm not sure.  
I just feel like I'm losing my baby girl,  
And she leaned over...  
  
Gave me butterfly kisses with her Mama's air,  
Sticking little white flowers all up in her hair.  
Walk me down the aisle Daddy, it's just about time.  
Does my wedding gown look pretty Daddy?  
Daddy, don't cry.  
Oh, with all that I've done wrong, I must of done something right.  
To deserve her love every morning, and butterfly kisses at night.

_To deserve her love every morning, and butterfly kisses at night._

"That was beautiful," Draco said, having never heard Hermione sing before.  The rest had heard her sing on numerous occasions.  

"Thanks," she said, embarrassed.  

"All right, now we'll rehearse Harry and Hermione," Aberforth said.  "Harry, you stand up here.  Hermione, go back."  They obeyed.  "Okay, enter in the order I have been repeating for the last half hour."

Ron and Ginny began chanting the wedding march as the flower girl, Melissa (Sirius and his wife, Ella's daughter) walked down the aisle, pretending to be scattering petals.  She was followed by the bridesmaids, Alice, Jessa and Darcy (all of whom were Hermione's cousins).  Darcy had been paired to walk down the aisle with Sirius and she looked very pleased about this, despite the fact Sirius was married and had a child. 

Then Hermione entered.  The other people in the pews stood like they would in the real wedding, as Hermione walked, almost glided down the aisle, managing to look elegant without a bridal dress.

"Once you get down here, I say 'Dearly beloved etc.," Aberforth started.  "You know the drill. Then I say 'Do you, Hermione Vivian Rebecca Granger take this man etc.  And you say?"

"I do," Hermione replied promptly.  

"And then I say 'Do you Harry James Potter take this woman etc.  And you say?"

"I do."

The instant Harry said 'I do', the candles all flashed out as one.  There was pitch black as Hermione screamed because she could no longer feel Harry's hands in hers.  He was gone.  


	2. Chapter Two

A/N: Please review.  Flames are welcome, if they are not unfounded.  Thanks.

Chapter Two 

"What happened?" Draco asked, his question directly following a string of colourful language.

"I don't know," Lavender replied.  "Everyone, light up your wands so we can rekindle the candles."

They lit their wands and light flooded the cathedral.  Hermione screamed again.  

"Mione?  What's wrong?" Ron asked, concern in his voice.

"Harry?  Harry!  He's gone!"

Belatedly, everyone else noticed Harry had disappeared.

"Well, he was right there," Lavender said, sounding stunned.  "All he said was 'I do', then he disappeared.  Those are the basic facts, if they are any help whatsoever."   

Hermione collapsed to the floor, sobbing.  They walked over to her, cautiously, not quite sure how Hermione would react to being comforted.       

Ginny finally bent down.  "Hermione?" she said.  "He'll be fine, I know.  I can feel it."

"How do you know?" Hermione asked, lifting a tear-stained face.  "I want to think that too.  But I am already feeling disheartened and it's been thirty seconds.  What if he never comes back?"

"Well, he won't, if you sit there sobbing," Draco broke in, not unkindly.  "If you want to find Harry, you have to look for him."  

Hermione stood up.  "You're right.  You are one hundred per cent right, Draco.  I'm going to go look through my books to see if I can find anything."  And she walked out of the church without another word.  

"Where'd everyone else go?" Ron asked, looking around.  

"They left," Ginny said.  "I think they were really scared, so they just filed out.  Either that, or they disappeared with Harry."

"Yeah, okay.  What's wrong Draco?"   Draco had been staring open-mouthed after the door Hermione had just exited through.  

"So her fiancé disappears, she collapses, becomes a sobbing mess, we cheer her up then she goes off and reads?  Is there something wrong with this picture?"

"Nothing at all," Ron replied.  "She collapses, becomes a sobbing mess and looks in books for a way to find him back."

"If you say so," Draco said in a doubtful tone.  

After a short discussion, they decided to follow Hermione back to her and Harry's house.  They would help her look for any information that might help and alert Professor Dumbledore immediately.  When the got outside, they saw Hermione for an instant, just before she Disapparated.

"Of course, she leaves," Ron said.  "Need I remind anyone that out of those left here, only one can Apparate?"  He stared pointedly at Draco.  Draco sighed.

"Just hang onto me," he said, then once they were all connected, he Disapparated to Hermione's living room.

When Hermione reached her and Harry's house, she felt much better than she had ten minutes before.  Their house was blue, with white shutters.  It was tastefully decorated, and filled almost to bursting with books.  In the study, every wall save one had a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf.  Some were Muggle novels, others spell books.

She entered the study and sat down in her chair.  She had the one chair she always sat in, Harry had his.  After about three minutes of rapid thinking, Hermione stood and walked to the desk.  She had just opened a drawer when Ron, Lavender, Ginny and Draco burst in.    

"Hi," she said wearily.  

"Hi.  All right?" Ginny said, sitting down in a chair.

"I'll be fine."  Hermione picked up a piece of parchment and a quill to begin a letter to Dumbledore.  She was fairly sure Aberforth would have contacted him, but wanted to be sure.

_Dear Professor Dumbledore,_

_          Tonight, as you know, was our wedding rehearsal.  We were all there, and Harry and I were last.  I walked down the aisle, and everything was fine until the 'I do's.  Aberforth asked me, then Harry.   The instant Harry said the words, the candles all went out.  I screamed because I could no longer feel his hands.  When we had the candles lit back up, Harry wasn't there.  I hope you can help Ron, Ginny, Draco, Lavender and me find harry, as that is what we intend to do.  Hope you can help—_

_Hermione Granger (Wishing she were Hermione Potter.) _

When she had finished writing the letter, Hermione whistled for her owl, Artemis.  When the letter was securely tied to Artemis' leg, Hermione told her, "Take this to Dumbledore, straight away.  It's important."  Then she opened the window and let the owl fly into the darkness.

Hermione sank back into her chair and everyone stared at her sympathetically.

"Well, where do we start?"

~*()*~

While Hermione, Ron, Ginny, Lavender and Draco were planning how to rescue him, Harry slowly regained consciousness.  When he was finally able to sit up, he noticed he was in a stone room that looked quite like Snape's dungeon, though it was less than half the size.  He wasn't chained, tied or bound in any way, shape or form.  Both that, and the fact that he still had his wand, surprised him.  

That is, until he noticed there wasn't a door.  

He muttered a string of creative, while not anatomically possible, phrases and collapsed back on the stone floor.  Then he noticed a faint light was appearing on one of the walls.  It glowed golden as Harry saw a figure approaching.  But it didn't look like a saviour.

~*()*~

"Hermione, are you okay?" Lavender asked.  Hermione had been pacing the length of the study for the past half hour, muttering to herself.  

"I've got it!" she announced triumphantly.

"What have you got?" Ron asked.  "Because if you're thinking you've got sanity, you would definitely be wrong there."  Hermione scowled at him.  

"Sorry," he said, then got up and sat next to Lavender, farther away from Hermione.  

"As I was saying," Hermione continued.  "When Dumbledore gets my letter, he'll respond, or he'll use Floo to get here.  I'm sure he'll know what to do!"

"Two questions," Draco said.  "One: Is that your plan?  With the way you were muttering, I was sure you would have come up with something better.  Two: Why would Dumbledore use Floo?  Couldn't he just Apparate?"

"You can't Apparate on or off the Hogwarts grounds!" Hermione said, half-shouting.  "_Why_ am I the only one who ever read _Hogwarts: A History_?"  

Hermione resumed her pacing.  Everyone else watched her.  Back and forth.  Back and forth.  

"I've got it!" she shouted again.

"Oh no," Draco muttered.  Ginny elbowed him.

"I put a spell on Harry when I was in fifth year.  He never knew that I did.  It's called the Amorae Libertas.  I put it on him because You-Know-Who had returned.  It tells me—or shows me—where Harry is."

"How does it work?" Lavender asked curiously.

"I put the charm on him, then on another object very close to me.  Then when I want to use the spell, I make the complicated potion, say the incantation and boom.  It works.  But the spell can only be used at intervals of forty-eight hours, so if it doesn't work, we have to wait for a much longer time to get to Harry.  And anything could happen in those two days.  So we are going to have to be careful."

"But what does it do?" Ron asked.

"Oh, you'll see when I activate it.  But if everyone wants to go, we all have to work and do everything right.  But for now, we just wait for Professor Dumbledore."

No sooner had she spoken the words, then Dumbledore fell out of the fireplace.  

"Hello," he greeted them.  When he sat down and politely refused Hermione's offer of a cup of tea, he asked, "Could you please give me an exact account of what happened.  Perhaps by re-enacting.  Do not omit anything."

"All right," Hermione agreed.  "Lavender and Ron were first."

They proceeded through the rehearsal, speeding it up considerably.  

"Then he said 'Do you, Harry James Potter take this woman etc.' and Harry said 'I do'.    Then I screamed, the candles all sputtered out and we rekindled them.  But he was gone."

"So when the candles went out and it was dark, Harry was still there?" Dumbledore asked.

"No, I was holding his hands, and just as he finished saying 'I do', he was gone."

"I see.  This is more complicated than I thought.  If, when the lights went out, he were still there, we could assume he had been kidnapped.  Now we have no idea what happened.  Any suggestions?"

Everyone stared at Dumbledore, dumbfounded.  They had been expecting him to give them a solution.  They never thought he would be asking them for it.  

"Anything?" he repeated.  "No one came up with any plan of action?"

"Well, Hermione told us about a spell she put on Harry in fifth year," Ron said.

"What spell?"

"The Amorae Libertas," Hermione replied.  "We could try that…"

"We could try.  But the kidnappers—let's just assume that's what took Harry—have probably thought of something like that.  What is the object?"

Hermione left the room and headed down the hall, everyone trailing behind her.  She walked into a spare bedroom and opened a jewellery box with a tap of her wand.  Inside were many assorted necklaces, but in the very middle was an ornate ring, set with rubies and emeralds.

"Wow," Ginny breathed.  "It's beautiful."

"It's a ring," Ron said in a bored tone.  "What's so nice about it?"

"It has been passed down in my family for generations.  It was my…wait, let me think…great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great grandmother's. 

"Wow," Draco commented.  "Thirteen greats."

"Only you would count," Ginny said. 

"Yeah."         

"As we move on with the spell," Dumbledore interrupted.  "We should move to a larger, more open space." 

Hermione picked up her ring and followed Professor Dumbledore out the backdoor.  

"Would someone please bring a cauldron from the kitchen?" she called over her shoulder.  Lavender returned with a cauldron in her arms.  

"Now," Hermione said once they were all outside.  "We need my book."  Raising her wand, she said, "_Accio spell book_!"  Seconds later, a huge book come zooming straight toward her.  She caught it, but tumbled to the ground in the process.  

"We are ready to begin," she announced when she had gotten up.  This said, she began Summoning objects, seemingly at random.  

"Where are you getting these from?" Ron demanded when a unicorn horn hit him in the head. 

"Wherever's nearest," was the hurried answer, between "_Accio Cornish Pixie_," and "_Accio Scissors_".

"What are the scissors for?" Draco asked angrily as the aforementioned attempted to give his hair a trim.

"The string.  All right, I need a lot of help doing this.  Everyone, pick up as many objects as you can (Ron stop that Cornish Pixie, _right now_!) and we can drop them in when I say to.  Professor, you can help if you like."

"Actually, I think I would prefer to see how well you get on without me.  If you don't mind."

"Not at all," Hermione responded.  "Okay, first, whoever has the boomslang skin, drop that in."

Draco moved forward with the skin in his hands.    

"Now the dragon blood.  Drop that in."

Lavender walked forward, looking sickened.    
"Is that what this is?" she asked.

"Yes."  Hermione kept giving orders.  

"Can't we just drop them all in at once?" Ron complained.

"No, then it could kill Harry, or me!"

"I didn't know it was that serious!" Ron defended himself.  

"It is.  This potion must be done perfectly.  Now, Ginny, drop your list piece in, the scissors."

Ginny dropped the scissors, and they landed with a dull thunk on the bottom.  The potion turned green.  

"Everyone, stand in a circle around the cauldron.  I'm going to pass my ring around.  Everyone needs to touch it, for the spell to work on you.  Then join hands."

Hermione passed the ring around, and each person held it briefly.  She then dropped it into the cauldron.  The potion turned a blinding shade of white, and gave off an eerie light.  Then she joined the circle between Ginny and Ron.  

"All right.  Actually, no, drop your hands first.  You need to learn the incantation first.  If we are in unity already, then it will work immediately.  The incantation is this: _Amorae Libertas Coure Salve Amorae_.  Everyone, say it together."

" _Amorae Libertas Coure Salve Amorae_," they repeated. 

"Good, that was good.  But remember, if anyone speaks one syllable off, either Harry or I could be killed."  She glared at them, as if to say "You had better get it right this time."

"Killed?" Ginny asked incredulously.  "Because of one syllable?" 

"Yes.  Killed."

"Could you repeat it again?" Ron asked, a little meekly.

Hermione did so, and he nodded. 

"Professor Dumbledore, will you join us?" Hermione asked, looking as if she just remembered the professor was there.

"No, like I said, I prefer to see how well you do without me.  I'll see you when you get back." 

"Back?" Lavender asked nervously?  "What does he mean, 'back'?"

"Forget it, Lav," Hermione reassured her.  "It's nothing.  Now, we have to join hands, and close our eyes.  And keep them closed, or you may wreck the spell.  Don't ask me why, the book just says that."  Everyone's eyes fluttered shut.

"We'll begin the incantation on the count of 'chant'.  Does everyone remember it?"

"Yes," they all said. 

"One…two…three…chant!"

They began to speak.  "_Amorae Libertas Coure Salve Amorae.  Amorae Libertas Coure Salve Amorae.  Amorae Libertas Coure Salve Amorae_."

"As they continued to chant, they were whisked off in a whirl of blue and green, vanishing from the face of the earth.   


	3. Chapter Three

Disclaimer: The big, blue, wet thing is from Muppet Treasure Island.

A/N: Please review.  Reviews truly mean the world to me, I'm not kidding. Flames are welcome if they are not unfounded.  Thanks.

**Chapter Three**

          A person was approaching him.  The person wasn't tall, but couldn't be considered short.  He was dressed in black robes, trimmed with gold.  His face wasn't visible, as his entire head was cloaked, casting a shadow above his face.  He carried a wand like a sword, wielding it as if he could use it to ward off enemies (which he could).  

Harry sat up again, a splitting headache pounding near his temples.  "What do you want?" he croaked, venom dripping from his words.  

"What do I want?" the hooded figure repeated.  "Or what I am ordered to do?  I want nothing more than to escape this life.  But I am ordered not to.  III have been ordered to make sure you are still alive."

"Well I am," Harry said, still sounding as harsh as possible under his conditions.  "And I would like to be left alone with my thoughts."  

"But couldn't I please stay?"  Harry's lips parted in shock.  

"What?" he stammered.  "Aren't you my enemy?  Didn't you capture me and bring me here?  Or…or help plot it?"

"No.  I told you, I want nothing more than out of this life.  I was dragged here, and I have yet to find my way out."  The figure drew back the hood of his cloak.  And Harry let out a gasp of surprise, heard by no one but himself.

~*()*~

"Is everyone okay?" Hermione asked in a worried voice.  "Did everyone get through?"

When no one answered, Hermione grew panicked, looking around the barren landscape.  She had landed on a great plain, bordered with few trees and some strange, bluish clusters of rocks.  A high wind had picked up and was blowing her hair over her face, obscuring her vision.  

"Hello?" she called, more loudly this time.  "Did anyone go through with me?"  Far in the distance Hermione thought she heard someone calling out.    The voice was coming from her left, if there was a voice.  She began running that way.  

"HELLO?" she yelled again, hurting her throat from yelling like that.  When Hermione had crossed a large cluster of rocks, she heard a voice behind her say, "Mione?  Hermione!"

Hermione turned around to see Ginny huddled in the lee of the rocks, hoping to get out of the wind.  "Ginny!  Oh, Ginny!  Have you seen anyone else?" Hermione asked immediately, her eyes filling with tears and embracing her friend as if they hadn't seen in years.  

"They weren't with you?" Ginny asked, her eyes now threatening to overflow.  

"Oh, no," Hermione wailed.  "There must have been a defect in the potion.  Or the charm.  Or someone spoke something wrong, or a million things.  Oh, Ginny, I hope they're safe!"

"Me too, Hermione.  Me too."

They stood like that for an indefinite time, holding each other, lest the other fall.  They were both unsure if the others lived, but as long as they supported each other, it would be all right.  

~*()*~

"Hello?  Is anyone else here?"    Ron's cries carried very little in the small room.  It was all white, with no apparent walls, ceiling or floor.  

"Hello?" he tried again, still receiving no reply.  He bent down to inspect what he was standing on.  It was swirling ceaselessly.  Although it looked quite like mist, it appeared to be fairly solid.  It was supporting his weight, at least.  

"Hellooo?"

Ron looked up.  "Who's there?" he called into the mist.  

"Ron? Ron?  Is anyone there?"

He began to run toward the voice.  But the closer he got, the voice seemed to grow fainter.  When he went the opposite way, it grew yet fainter.  

"Ron."  He heard it again, this time as if the one speaking were muttering in his ear.  

"Who is it?" he asked.  "What do you want?"

There wasn't a sound.  He felt defeated.  And completely alone.  He kept running in all directions, hoping to find one of his friends.  After what felt like hours later and he still hadn't found anything, he felt more alone than ever.  He hadn't known solitude until then.  It was awful not to have the company of another, even an enemy.  He collapsed on what felt like the floor, sobbing.

~*()*~

"Draco?  Is that you?"

"Ginny?"

"No, it's Lavender.  I don't know where Ginny is.  For that matter, I don't know where Ron and Hermione are, and I sure don't know where Harry is."

"Not good.  Not at all.  Have you any idea where we are?"  

"None.  Sorry."

Draco sat up, groaning.  And gasped.  He and Lavender were on the ocean.  Yes, _on_ is the correct word.  The water was flowing, but they were being supported by it.  He cupped his hands and let water flow between his fingers.

"Wow," he said.  "Did you put a charm on this to support us?" he asked Lavender.       

"Put a charm on what?" she asked.  

"The water."

"What water?"

"What do you mean 'what water'?" Draco shouted.  "The water we are sitting on!  You know, the big, blue, wet thing?  Water!"

"We aren't sitting on any water," Lavender told him, looking at him as if he were a bit off.

"Then tell me, what are we sitting on?"

"Sand," was the prompt answer.  

"Lavender, tell me this.  What's in my hand?" Draco asked, as he cupped his hands around water again.  

"Sand," she repeated.

"This isn't good," Draco said in response, rubbing his temples. "We aren't seeing the same environment.  You see that we are in the middle of some desert.  I see us on the ocean."  Draco covered his face with hands.  

"You mean underwater?"

"No.  Like I said, _on_ the water.  As if it were a tangible substance able to support our weight."

"Well, at least we can see each other," Lavender said brightly.

"Can you touch me?" Draco asked between hid fingers.  "Put your hand on my shoulder."

Lavender tried.  Her arm went right through him.  

"We aren't really in the same place," Draco said.  "We can see each other, but we are in completely different places.  And we could disappear from each other's vision at any time."

~*()*~

The hooded figure was a girl.  A young girl of approximately fifteen.  She would have been a fifth or sixth year at Hogwarts.  

Harry stared.

"What?" she asked.  "What's wrong?"

"You…you're a girl," he said, sounding stunned.

"Yes, I am," she replied, her tone implying that this was the most obvious fact in the world.  

"But…but, you looked so…I couldn't tell when you had your hood up."

"I know.  It has an Obscuring Charm on it, making it impossible to make out what my face looks like.  My mother made me put it on."

"Who's your mother?"

There was a long pause.  "I don't know," the girl said finally.  "I mean…I know, but I don't.  I've never seen her face.  At least, not that I remember.  But she's a horrible person. And that's why I want out of this life.  I hate Dark magic, but I don't have a choice whether or not I practice it."

"Why don't you have a choice?" Harry asked.  "Why don't you just escape?"

"I've tried, believe me.  Ever had the Cruciatus Curse put on you?" 

"Yeah, Harry said, remembering his fourth and fifth year. At the end of fifth year was the last time Harry had ever seen Lord Voldemort, though he knew that seeing him again, hopefully for the last time, was inevitable.    

There was another pause, in which the girl sat down, her legs tucked under her.  Harry took the time to study her. 

She had long, dirty-blonde hair and black, almost liquid-looking eyes.  She was fairly small, and of about average weight.  "My name is Ariadne," she said, her voice echoing in the small room.  "I don't know my last name."

"Harry.  Harry Potter."

"I know," Ariadne said, grinning. 

"Did you go to Hogwarts?" he asked her.

"No.  My mother trained me in all I know.  And most of it is Dark magic.  I know a few normal spells, but most of them are for self-defence."

"Do you have a wand?"

"Right here."  Ariadne took it out and showed it to him, almost as if she needed his approval of it.  It was an ebony black material, one that didn't much look like wood.

"What is it made of?" he asked curiously.  "I haven't seen anything like it."  

"I not sure.  But then, I don't know a lot in life."

"Well, let's start practising.  I'll take you through an entire Hogwarts education, as we are both stuck here and seem to have all the time in the world.  And while we work, we can think of ways to get out."

"Sounds good," Ariadne said.  "Start your teaching."

A/N: Ariadne's name is pronounced air-ee-AD-nee.

~*()*~

He sat up; face still not dry of tears.  One slid to the floor as he whispered, "I wish I was with someone else.  Anyone else."  As another tear slipped off his face, he was whisked away in a vortex of black, sucked down until he knew no more.   

~*()*~

"Draco, what are we going to do?  If one of us disappears, we would be alone.  And I still don't quite get it.  How can you see me, but I am not really there?"

"Lavender, we went over this.  Many times."

"I know.  But I still don't get it."

"Lav, what's on your left?"

"Well, really far out there's a cactus."

Thank you, Lavender.  Thank you.  I mean, do you see any water?  Because I am surrounded by it.  I am floating on top of it."

"No, no water.  And I still don't understand why we can see but not touch each other."   Lavender's brow furrowed.

"You're only seeing a shadow of me, Lav.  The real me is where I am sitting.  You see a shadow, which is why your arm goes right through me.  And I see you because your shadow is with me."

He was met with an even more clueless look.  "All right, it's like this: I am like a ghost.  A ghost's soul is there, but not his body.  You see my soul."  

"Oh, I get it!"

"About time.  That was the last time I was going to explain." 

~*()*~

Hermione and Ginny were still huddled near the rocks, while the wind still whistled and howled around them.  

"Do you think we'll die?" Ginny asked Hermione, her face muffled because her head was buried in her robes.

"I'm honestly not sure," Hermione replied.  "After all, we're all just pawns in a giant chess game.  Much as we think we are knights, bishops, or even kings or queens, we are merely pawns.  Meaningless, except to each other." 

Her statement hung in the air.  Ginny didn't reply.  They both knew that Hermione's statement was true, so they remained silent, both thinking about it.  And they listened.  Listened to the wind, which seemed to be calling to them.  

"Ginny!  Hermione!" it called, just barely reaching their ears.  And then an unconscious Ron was dropped in front of them.

~*()*~

"You're a pretty fast learner," Harry said to Ariadne.

"Thanks.    But it is probably in part that I have been learning Dark spells since I could hold a wand and if I didn't get it right, the Cruciatus Curse.  So I have learnt to learn quickly."      

"I see what you mean. I know how the Cruciatus Curse feels—terrible."

"I know.  But should we try another spell?"

"All right.  We'll try the…oh, what's it called?  It makes a light go on at the end of your wand. Do you know it?"

Ariadne shook her head, indicating no. 

"The incantation is this: _Lumos_."  A light instantly appeared at the end of Harry's wand.  "Now you try it," he said.  

Ariadne tried, and succeeded quickly.  

Unbeknownst to them, another Dark figure watched them from afar.  "Very good, my dear Ariadne," it whispered.  "You have just wont he award for Best-Plan-Maker.  But you have also won Plan-Destroyer.  She has befriended him!"                  


	4. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

"Draco?  What are you thinking?"

"I wonder what would happen if I stood up?" Draco mused aloud.  

"What do you mean?" Lavender asked, staring.  

"I mean," Draco explained patiently.  "If I stood up, would I sink, or would I be able to walk on water?"

"I don't know.  You could try it."

"I think I will."  Draco pulled his stiff legs out from under him and stretched them out in from of him.  "I hope I won't sink," he said worriedly.  I can't swim very well." 

"I don't think you will," Lavender said assuredly.  "You can sit, can't you?  Why shouldn't you be able to stand?"

Draco stood up…and began to sink.

"Help me," he commanded, still somehow managing to sound dignified.

"Draco!" Lavender screamed.  "Hang on!"

"To what, you idiot?" he yelled back, losing his dignified air.

It was like being in quicksand—he was sinking slowly, but the more he struggled, the faster he sank.  To Lavender, he was now invisible from the waist down.

"Draco!" Lavender screamed again.

"Help me!" he repeated.  

She darted forward, groping for his hand.  But something was blocking him from her.  It was if she had just run into a glass wall, one she could easily look through, but not penetrate.  She was still on solid ground, and her arm could go through the wall.

"Take my hand!" Lavender yelled at Draco.  He went completely still.  

She reached even farther, feeling as if her arm would rip out of its socket if it were pulled any farther.  Draco stretched his arm out, just as he sank to his chin.  Their hands reached…and went right through each other.  But Lavender felt something snap, and she was suddenly grabbing Draco's wrist.  They had connected.

Draco flew out of the sand/water.

And Lavender saw a dark shape hurtling toward her at amazing speeds.  It writhed and wrapped itself around Draco's body, then disappeared.

He was there, in soul, spirit and body.  He was really there, not just a shadow.  

"Are you all right now?" Lavender asked, watching him draw great, shuddering breaths.  

"Yeah, yeah I am now," he replied.  "Thank you."

~*()*~

"Ron?" he heard an astonished voice exclaim.    He lifted his head with the very little strength left to him.  

"Gin?" he whispered. "Mione?"

"It's us, Ron," he heard, as he felt someone bend down beside him.  He saw a flash of red, and knew it was Ginny.  Seconds later, he felt Hermione drop to her knees too.

"Ron, are you all right?" The words were soft, as though the sound waves were having difficulty travelling to his ears.  He couldn't tell who was talking.

"I'm…fine," he managed to get out; right before his head dropped and he lapsed out of consciousness again.

"Liar," Ginny said, standing up.  "He is most definitely not fine."

"Ginny, we have to keep him warm.  See how cold he is."

"We'll move him over here.  Put some warming spells on him."

Hermione took out her wand, pointed it at on and said, "_Facillo-are_."  A small burst of red light exploded from her wand tip an hovered over Ron for a few moments, before shaping itself into a red, bubble-like form around Ron's unconscious body.

"What was that?" Ginny gasped.  "It looks evil."

"It isn't.  It's a warmth bubble…  It will heat him and prevent cold from reaching him."

"If you say so," Ginny said doubtfully.  "But how do we move him?"

"We don't.  He stays right there."

As they had been talking, Ron had begun to shrink.  Or, the bubble around him shrank, and Ron did with it.  Smaller and smaller he got, until he was barely visible.  Then, with a small pop, he disappeared completely from their view.  He was gone, once again.

~*()*~

"You're sure you don't need anything?"

"Lavender, I am sitting on sand in the middle of a desert, with a blanket you conjured wrapped around me, a bottle of water and a meal fit for royalty.  Trust me, I'm fine." 

"You're sure?" she asked again.

"_Yes_," he said impatiently.  "Now that we have established I feel perfectly normal, we might as well begin to walk and see where we end up."

"All right," Lavender agreed, a little hesitantly. 

They began to walk, growing slower and slower with each step.

"Does this desert ever end?" Lavender wailed.   

"I don't know.  Not as far as I can see."

Then, about four paces later, they fell, and landed in a gorge filled with snow and ice.

~*()*~

Ron was sitting on something hard.  He lifted his head to the darkness surrounding him.  It was impossible to see anything. 

Suddenly, a brilliant light lit the area around him.  Five women, dressed in the strangest garb he had ever seen, were opposite him.

The one in the middle, the tallest of the five, was dressed in clothing that seemed to change according to the way she moved.  It changed from brown to blue, to grey, to red, to brown again.  

The second was wearing robes of periwinkle blue.  Her skin was as pale as snow, and her hair was the colour of a glacier.  It flowed to the ground like water. 

The third wore a dress made of earth, mud, leaves and sticks, twisted intricately to form clothing.  Her sin was a dark brown, as was her hair.  

The fourth woman also wore robes, these of a bright red.  The shades changed with every movement, never ceasing.  Her hair was the colour of his, cut short, below her chin.     

The fifth wore a skirt and shirt of grey.  Her every movement was graceful, every motion looked planned and calculated.  Her hair was grey, streaked with brown.  Or perhaps it was the other way around.  It was impossible to guess her age.    

"Where am I?" Ron asked them.  

"Who are you to ask questions of us?" the one in the middle asked.  But her lips were not moving.  The voice went straight into his mind, the un-sounds forming themselves into words.  It didn't touch his eardrums.  He jumped, almost falling off whatever it was he was sitting on.

"Speak to him in the way of mortals," the one dressed in blue said.  She spoke the way he did.  "He is not used to our ways of communication."    

"Who are you, to ask questions of us?" the one in the middle repeated, this time sound blissfully penetrating his ears.

He battled with himself.  He didn't know these women, but was sure they were Mage people.  When dealing with a person unknown to you, let them make the first stupid move.  He wanted to make them think he was powerful, perhaps even more so than they.  He chose to remain silent.  There is a power in silence.  

"He wants to know who were are."  The one in blue spoke again.  Her voice was sweet and pure, reminding him faintly of something, though he couldn't remember what.  "He will not give us anything unless we tell him.  He is very wise."

There was a pause, in which couldn't even hear himself breathing.  He wasn't sure is he _was_ breathing.  

Finally, "I am Natura'ae," the woman in the middle said.

"I am Aqua'ae," the one dressed in blue said, her voice still sweetly sounding.  Now he knew it reminded him of something, but he couldn't place it.  

"I am Fidelia'ae," the one dressed in leaves said.

"I am Flamma'ae," the one dressed in red said.  Her robes changed from a dull burgundy red to a bright orange as she spoke.

"And I am Aura'ae," the last one, the one in grey, said.  

"We are the Elements," the said in unison, bowing their heads to him.               

Ron blinked.  Nothing made sense to him.  Their names sounded somewhat like Latin, but he didn't know Latin.  He could ask Hermione.  That is, if he ever saw Hermione again.  If he ever saw anyone again.

"We mean you no harm," Natura'ae said kindly.  

"How can I know," he asked, filled with suspicion.  

"We gave you that which is only ours, our names.  Give us yours, and one thing linking you to your people, and we will answer your questions," Aura'ae told him.  

"Ron," he quietly whispered.  "My name is Ron."

"Is that the name chosen for you at birth?  Or a shortened version?  We need you entire name, including that which lies in the middle, and the name of your father!  We need straight answers to give straight answers," Flamma'ae said harshly.

"Hush," Aura'ae amended her.  "Let the boy speak."

"The name chosen for me at birth is Ronald," Ron said, frightened into speaking by…Flamma'ae?  Or was it Fidelia'ae?  He couldn't' keep them straight any longer.  "My full name is Ronald Michael Weasley."

"Very good, Ronald Michael Weasley.  Now give me one thing linking you to your people," Natura'ae said, her voice echoing strangely.  

"Something linking me to my people?" Ron asked.  "What?  Why?" 

"We need it to answer your questions.  For if we do not have it, we cannot see into your soul to answer your questions," Fidelia'ae (he thought) said.  

"What would link me to my…people?"

"Anything."

He thought, _Something linking me to my people?  Who are my people?  All witches and wizards, or just Lavender, Harry and Hermione and everyone?_    

"It must link you to all of them," Natura'ae said, her voice still echoing.  

"But I can't think of anything," he said.  "What could possibly link me to a person?"

"A secret you have with them, an object they gave you, anything that involves all the people closest to you.  Even their names might work," Aqua'ae explained patiently.  

_Well, Harry's known all around the globe_, Ron thought.  _And a lot of people know about Hermione, because she is marrying Harry.  But not many people know everyone else.     _

"Who are the people closest to you," Fidelia'ae asked.  "If you are close enough, even their names may work."

That was easy.  The people closest to him came instantly to his head.  He rattled off their names, accidentally giving nicknames for most.  "Lav, Harry, Mione, Ginny and Draco."  

Flamma'ae shrieked in rage.  "You mortal fool!" she ranted.  "We need their full names, like we did yours.  Birth names, that which lies in the middle and the name of their fathers!"

"Flamma'ae!" Aura'ae scolded again.  "Be kind!  He does not know what we need unless we specify."

Ron was liking Flamma'ae less and less.  

"All of their full names?" Ron asked hesitantly, not sure how well the question would go over with Flamma'ae.

But Natura'ae silenced her with a look   as Aqua'ae said, "Yes, Ronald Michael Weasley, for all of them."

"Um…Lavender Elizabeth Brown, Harry James Potter, Hermione Vivian Rebecca Granger, Virginia Anne Weasley and Draco Thomas Malfoy."

"This Virginia Anne Weasley has the same father's name as you do.  Are you related?" Natura'ae queried.

"Yes, she's my sister."

"And these are the people closest to you in the world?"

"Yes they are."

"Please repeat their names, then ask us your questions."

As Ron gave the names again, the women in front of him moved closer, until they formed one person.  She looked not like a single one of the Elements, but a combination of them all.    

"Question us," the one woman said, though it sounded as if five were speaking. 

"Where am I?" he asked immediately.

"You are in the Core of Elements.  This is where each Element dwells, until she is needed."

"Where is Lavender?"

"She is in the Orb of Ice, along with the one you call Draco.  They are stranded there, unable to leave until rescued."

Ron was a little uneasy about Lavender being stranded anywhere with any other guy, but there was nothing he could do about it right then.  "Where's Harry?" he asked instead.

"He is in the hands of those you call Death Eaters.  He is with Ariadne, the Unknown."

Ron did not understand half of this, but kept going.

"Where's Hermione?"  

"In the Vast Expanse, with Virginia.  You were there too, for a time, but you were sent here.  Hermione is a descendent of Water, though it was under no willingness.  She contains this, it is her Essence."

Ron blinked.  Hermione was a _what_ of _what_?  "How can I get to one of them?" he asked.  

"To whom are you referring?"

"How can I get to Hermione and Gin…Virginia, or Lavender and Draco, or to Harry?"

"You cannot get to Harry from here.  He is hidden from us well.  But you will get to him eventually.  You may choose, Hermione and Virginia, or Draco and Lavender."

"I thought you said Lavender and Draco needed rescuing."

"Yes, they do."

"Then how do I get to Hermione and Virginia?" 

"Think about them both.  Can you see them?"  Without waiting for an answer, the woman went on.  "As you think about them, I can send you.  Remember the essence of the one called Hermione.  She is one of us."

Ron closed his eyes and pictured Ginny and Hermione in his mind's eye.  He felt a pull, like that of a Portkey, and felt himself hurtling through the air.  He kept speeding up, and just as he was finally slowing down, his thoughts drifted to Lavender and back.

He instantly felt the switch, as he began hurling the other way. 

As he slowed, he saw Lavender and Draco coming into focus.  They had collapsed in the ice and snow.  On an impulse he reached out and grabbed a hand of each of them.  Their skin was colder than their surroundings.  

Ron felt himself changing direction once again, back the way he had been before.  His thoughts were still on Hermione and Ginny, and they stayed that way.

Hermione and Ginny were still arguing over what had happened to Ron as he dropped from the sky, still clinging to Lavender and Draco.  Both girls gasped.

"Where were you?  What happened?" 

They pelted the three with questions as they sat up, groaning.  

"Hermione, you are made of Water,' Ron said, sounding as if he had just been through a huge ordeal, and just wanted to sleep.  And maybe he did.

"What?" Hermione asked, confused.

"Do you know Latin?" Ron asked around a yawn.

"Yes, I do, why?"

"What does Aura'ae mean?"

"It sounds somewhat like the word for…wind."

"How about Aqua'ae?"

"It sounds like water."

"Flamma'ae?"

"Fire."

"Fidelia'ae?  What about that one?"

"Earth, sort of."

"And, last one, Natura'ae?"

"Element.  Where are you getting all these?  I thought you didn't know Latin."

"I don't.  But I met them.  The women, I mean."  And Ron's head dropped to his shoulder as he fell fast asleep.

And in the second before he fell asleep, Ron remembered what Aqua'ae's voice reminded him of—Hermione.  


	5. Chapter Five

A/N: Please review.  I've already posted four chapters of this fic, and I haven't gotten a single review.  Flames are welcome if they are not unfounded.  Thanks.  This is my fifth chapter, and I still haven't gotten a single review.  I am disappointed with all of you.  The least you could do would be to tell me what you liked/disliked about my writing.  

Chapter Five 

Ariadne had left his cell, saying she had "chores to attend to."

He was alone.  And bored.  He had had fun teaching Ariadne an entire Hogwarts education, it took his mind off the idea that he was a prisoner and had no ally.  

But he had an ally.  Ariadne had said she wanted to escape too.  Maybe they could form a plan together when she came back.  That is, if she came back.  

Harry leant back against the cold wall.  It was covered in gouges, counting using the four lines and a slash method.  Someone had obviously been here for a long time.  

He began to count them.  Eventually, he ended up with a total of 704.  With a jolt he realised that _he_ had carved the marks.  Every one of them. He had been here almost two years.  But he didn't feel two years older.  And Ariadne had been here a majority of the time he was.    

Had he really carved all the marks adorning the wall?    Had he really been here for almost two years?  But he remembered his watch ticking off twenty-four hours and picking up a rock and carving another mark. 

But he didn't.  He couldn't have.  Two years is too long.  What about Hermione and Ron and Ginny and Lavender and Draco?  Wouldn't they have remembered him?  Wouldn't they have come for him already?  Hermione wasn't stupid, she would have figured out where he was. 

Hermione _isn't_ stupid, he corrected himself.  He was already thinking in past tense.  How morbid.  But he had been in the same cell for two years that didn't feel like two years.  The most could have been two days because he was unconscious for a time.  He couldn't have been unconscious for over a year.  He would have needed food. 

Harry slid to the floor, still debating whether or not he had completely lost two years.  He turned around and felt for the slashes on the wall.  There wasn't anything there.  Not a single mark.  But he remembered carving them!  He remembered!

Yet…it was becoming hazy.  It wasn't as clear as it had been seconds before.  

Harry stood, looking for any of the marks the remembered carving but didn't.  Nothing covered the walls.  They were smooth as marble.  

He spun in circles, looking.  And as he spun, he lost the memory of carving.  He stopped, wondering why he was spinning.  Nothing of the memory remained.  

Harry sat, waiting for Ariadne to return so they could plan their escape.  He never knew that from the watchtower above, a lone figure had watched his every move.

"Ah, excellent.  The spell worked.  He is not immune," the figure muttered, then strode swiftly away.          

~*()*~

"Who did he meet?" Hermione asked Lavender and Draco.  They shrugged. 

"I have absolutely no idea," Draco said.  "He fell from the sky, grabbed our wrists and we ended up here." 

"That's a great description," Ginny snapped.  "We can picture it perfectly now, thanks."

Draco backed off.   

"Sorry Draco," Ginny apologised.  "I didn't mean to snap.  But we have been trapped here, looking for Harry, and for you guys, for everyone, and it has been very stressful.  I just need to rest.  But I really am glad to see you."  This said, she walked to him and kissed him, as if to support her words.  

"All right, we have to find out what Ron was talking about," Hermione said, directing her words mainly to Draco and Ginny, who were still in each other's embrace.  She was the only one without her fiancé there, and felt the loss.  

"Well, he isn't exactly in any condition to tell us," Lavender said, pointing to Ron, who was still lying on the ground, asleep now.

"Can we wake him up?" Draco asked.  "This is kind of important."

"Well, I don't know what else to do," Lavender said.  """We could carry him, and just start walking in whatever direction we like, but that would be pointless wouldn't it?  Or we could just sit here, waiting for him to wake up, but that could be a while.  We don't know what he went through.  Or we could wake him up _because_ we don't know what he went through.  He might be able to tell us something important."

"That's a well-informed opinion, that is," Draco muttered.  Ginny shot him A Look, then said, "I guess our best choice would be to wake him up."  She bent down and shook her brother's shoulder slightly.  "Ron?  Ron, get up.  You're late for Transfiguration."

"Huh?" Ron asked, always the intelligent one, his head coming off his arm.

"Good, you're awake," Ginny said brightly.  "We have a couple of questions."

"The answer is no," Ron said, lying his head back down.  

"No Ron," Lavender said.  These are important."

"What?" he asked grudgingly.     

"Where exactly did you go?" Hermione asked, sitting beside him near the rock.  

"Where did I go?  When?  Am I really late for transfiguration?"  Hermione restrained a cry of annoyance at Ron.  Maybe he was confused. 

"Just now, before you rescued Lavender and Draco.  Where were you?"

He tried to remember, and it came to him.  "I was in…the Core of the Elements.  You know what the elements are, right?" he asked. 

Hermione ticked them off her fingers.  "Water, Wind, Fire and Earth."

"Well, the one in charge, whose name Hermione said meant Element, her name was Natura'ae; she said I was in the Core where each Element dwelled until she was needed."

"Wait, back up," Draco said.  "Are you saying that each element, meaning wind, water, fire and earth, is a woman?"  

"Yes and no," Ron said.  "The Element…what was it?…dwells within them.  It is their life essence.  You know how the ancient Greeks called it the life spark?  Well, theirs is the element.  There were four of them, and the leader."

"Wait, what did you say their names were?" Hermione asked Ron excitedly. 

"Aqua'ae, Aura'ae, Fidelia'ae, Flamma'ae and Natura'ae."

"Water, wind, earth, fire and element," Hermione muttered to herself. "Give or take.  It only sounds a little like Latin.  Very strange."  Louder, she said, "Well, guys, as far-fetched as it may seem, Ron may be telling the truth.  No one knows how the Elements came to be, they were always there.  My guess is that Ron is right, he wasn't hallucinating or anything.

"I wasn't hallucinating!" Ron protested indignantly.  "Why would I dream about this, or make it up?"

"We know you weren't lying," Lavender soothed.  "We knew."       

"But, you said I was…what?  A descendent of Water?" Hermione asked.    

"Yeah.  She said…hang on, it's coming to me.  Hermione is a descendent of Water, though it was under no willingness.  She contains this, it is her Essence."

"See?  I was right!" Hermione crowed.  "Their essence, or life spark, or whatever, is the Element.  It is who they are.   Get it?"

"Kind of," Ginny said, looking utterly confused. 

"But I'm a descendent of Water?  That must mean I am a descendent of Aqua'ae."  She walked away, still muttering audibly to herself.  "But under no willingness?  That must mean someone found them, really liked her and chose he to be some sort of whore.  'Under no willingness', it sounds kind of like rape.  And I contain this because I am the result of the rape.  Wait, I have it!"

"You have been saying that all too much recently for my comfort," Draco said. Ginny elbowed him.  

"That means I am Water too.  Which means I can also use Water.  If Aqua'ae could, and she was an Element, that means I am too.  So there must be some way I am linked to Water, or just plain, non-capitalised water."

She was met with blank stares all around.

"Why me?" Hermione asked the heavens.  "Oh, why me?" 

No one's expression changed.  

"Okay, we'll review the facts," Hermione said, sighing.   "There were five women, right?  And they were each an element.  So, the one that was Water, Aqua'ae, was obviously used as some sort of whore.  She got pregnant and I am one of her direct descendents.  So I am Water too.  Understand?"

"Ohh!"

"Finally!"  

"So, now what are we going to do?" Lavender asked.  

"Find Harry," Hermione said decisively.             


	6. Chapter Six

A/N: Please review.  Flames are as welcome as always, when not unfounded.  Please do leave comments.  This is chapter six, and I have yet to receive a review.  I want to know what the world is coming to when someone reads something and can't even be bothered to comment on it.    

Chapter Six 

"Harry?  Are you in here?"

"Well, it's not like I have anywhere else to go."

Ariadne crept into the cell.  "How are you?" she asked concernedly.

"I'm all right," Harry answered.  "Excepting the fact that the food is worse than dog food."  He omitted the fact that he had experienced some form of seizure earlier.  He wasn't sure if it was a thing to be shared.  Instead, he asked, a smile playing his features, "Do you want to go on with you Hogwarts Education in   Five Days Flat?"  They had invented this name for the teaching of magic Harry was giving Ariadne.

"But of course, Professor Potter," Ariadne replied, playing along.  

"Today, why don't we start with the Summoning Charm?  I learned it in my fourth year, and it took me forever, but that was only because of the Triwizard Tournament."

"What's that?"

"What's what?  The spell or the Tournament?"

"The Triwizard Tournament.  What is it?"

"Three students from three different magical school compete in three tasks.  The tasks are extremely difficult and you need to be seventeen or older to enter."

"But you said you were in fourth year.  Doesn't that mean you were fourteen?"

Harry went on to explain how Barty Crouch Jr. had entered him in the Tournament.   And how Cedric had died because of him.

"That must have been awful," Ariadne said, not without sympathy.  

"It was," Harry agreed, remembering the guilt that had plagued him in his fifth year. 

"Well, am I going to learnt he spell or no?" Ariadne asked with mock annoyance.  

"Right.  The Summoning charm, well…summons and object to you.  When you say the incantation, the object will zoom toward you, it'll be fairly easy to catch.  This spell is extremely effective when the object is near by, but if you concentrate hard enough, it will come from further distances.  The incantation is: _Accio_.  Generally you would say the name of the object you are Summoning after saying "Accio", just in case your aim isn't too good."

"What should I try to Summon?" Ariadne asked, looking around the bare cell.  

"Oh…erm…how about…my watch!"  Harry took it off and placed it on the floor, about five paces from Ariadne.   When she tried to Summon it, it began to fly toward her, but stopped dead in midair halfway.  

"Was that supposed to happen?" she asked, her voice completely void of sarcasm.  Truly wanting to know.  She really had been deprived any form of education.

"No," Harry said.  "It was supposed to go directly to your hand."

"Well, why couldn't I do it?"

"Don't worry.  Not everyone can get a spell correct on the first try.  It took me about a month to learn this one."

"A month!" Ariadne wailed.  "I don't have a month!" 

"Why?  I thought you said you had been here your entire life.  What difference does a month make?"

"Oh, I don't know.  But what if they do something worse to you?  I mean, you _are_ a prisoner.  Sure, I'm here, but you are still being held here against your will.  Or something like that.  But I need an education.  The only spells I know are quite likely illegal."

"I don't know.  But for now, we'll just pretend I'm a teacher, you're a student, and this isn't a dungeon."

"But I can't," Ariadne whispered.  "I can't."

~*()*~    

"Find Harry?  How do you propose we set out to find Harry?"

"Oh, Draco, stop complaining."

Draco consented, not willingly, but he did cut the sarcasm.  

"I don't know where he is.  I'm only the one who needs him back," Hermione said.  It seemed like years ago   that they were at their wedding rehearsal and Harry had disappeared.  No one knew how much time had passed.

"Wasn't that spell you used supposed to take us to him?" Lavender asked suspiciously.

"It was supposed to," Hermione said wearily.  "But something must have gone wrong."

"Why don't you tell us all you know about the spell, whatever it was called," Draco said.   

"The spell is called the Amorae Libertas.  It is one of the most powerful in the world.  It was discovered in the 1200's as a protection against Dark Magic.  It uses the exact opposite of Dark Magic—Love.  If you are truly in love with a person, you can put this spell on that person and on something very important to you, and it will show you where they are when you make the potion.  It has only been used once successfully, back in the 1200's.  Now let me finish," she said when Ginny opened her mouth to comment.  "Questions later."

Ginny nodded.

"All right.  Where was I?  Oh, something in the potion must have gone wrong because we were all separated, and none of us ended up with Harry.  Either that, or this is part of how to get to Harry.  We need to find Harry to get home.  Once we get to him, and then get back to someplace (haven't quite figured out where yet), then the link between us and here will be severed.  We will return to earth perfectly fine.  And if everything went correctly, we'll be back only a few minutes after we left."

"So that's what the scissors were for?" Ginny asked.  "That link or whatnot?"

"Yes, that's what I meant."

"Now the only question is: where could Harry be?" Lavender wondered aloud.

"I know where Harry is."

"Ron?  You're awake?"

"I have been.  I know where harry is."

"Well, why didn't you say something?" Hermione demanded.

"Because you said no interruptions," he replied, grinning weakly.  

Hermione sighed in exasperation.  "Where is he then?"

"Hang on, let me tell you.  When I was with those Element women, I asked where all of you were.  Actually, I asked about Lav first.  She and Draco were in the Orb of Ice, or something like that.  Then I asked about Harry.  They said he was in the hands of Death Eaters, helping someone with a really odd name.  Right now we are in the Vast Expanse.  I asked how I could get to Harry, but they said I couldn't from the Core of Elements.  He was…well hidden from them.  But they also said we would reach him eventually."

"But you didn't ask them how to get to Harry from here or anything?" Ginny asked, sounding desperate.

"No, I just wanted out."

"Well, they said we would get to him eventually," Hermione mused.  "We'll assume they were right and we will.  Now let's think this through.  Harry's in the hands of Death Eaters.  Where's their hideaway?"

"Azkaban?" Draco said, making his answer sound like a question. "Exactly!  I thought I would have to prompt you," Hermione cried.  "So to Azkaban we go!"

"One slight problem," Ron interrupted.  "How are we going to get there?"

"Oh, I don't know," Hermione whispered sadly, sinking to the ground.    
"I have no idea."   

~*()*~

Back on earth, either ten inches or ten light-years away, Molly Weasley knocked on the door to Ron and Lavender's house.  Getting no answer, she went next door to Harry and Hermione's.  Once again receiving no answer, she continued to Ginny and Draco's.  Still no answer.  Each house looked as though no one had been there all night.  

That day had been the rehearsal.  Everyone had been terrified, so Sirius, Arthur and she had shooed everyone out and back to their homes.  Now she wanted to check on the six and see what exactly had happened.  But no one was home at any of their houses.  They were gone.

Something was wrong.  Terribly wrong.

~*()*~

"Well, where is Azkaban?" Ginny asked.     

"Out on a tiny deserted island in the middle of nowhere," Draco replied promptly.  

"How do you know?"

"My father took me there the summer before he disowned me from the family in fifth year."

"Well how did you get there?"

"I don't remember.  It was the summer between fourth and fifth year.  I tried to block all memories of that summer.  Apparently it worked.  All I remember was father being thrilled the Dark Lord was back."

"How awful," Ron said.  He was obviously comparing against his own family, in which there was always someone home, someone to talk to.  He had a true family.  Draco had a model, somewhat like a porcelain doll.  Only for show, not for playing with.

"Hey, it was the only thing I knew until my fifth year.  I thought every family was like that," Draco shrugged.  

"Where did you live after fifth year?" Lavender asked.

"I stayed in the Slytherin dorms."

"Back to Azkaban," Hermione said loudly, trying to steer the conversation back to rescuing Harry.  "Does anyone have any idea how to get there?"

"Oh, well we would know," Ron said.  "Because we go there so often and all."

"Please, Ron, I am not interested in listening to your sarcasm."

"Sorry."  

Hermione began to rub her temples.  "We have to get to Azkaban, yet we don't know where it is.  How could we figure it out?"

"Go home, ask someone (most likely Dumbledore), then go?"

"Lavender, we can't.  I just told you that.  We need to get someplace; I have no idea where, but only then will the link sever.  Then we'll be back on earth."

"But we don't know where Azkaban is."

"I know.  But who, not as if we have seen anyone around here would know where Azkaban is?" Hermione asked, thinking aloud.

"How about the Elements?"

~*()*~

He was exhausted.  Being deprived of proper food for who-knows-how-long can do that to you.  Ariadne had been trying to filch food for him and bring it back, but what she got wasn't much better.  

"So, what is our plan for getting out of here?" Ariadne asked Harry between bites of a substance supposedly called bread.

"That's what we were going to figure out today.  I really have to get out of here.  I miss everyone—especially Hermione."  Then he groaned.

"What?"  What's wrong?"

"I just thought.  Hermione!  She must be worrying herself into a coma-like state over me?"

"Who's Hermione again?"

"My fiancée.  We were going through our wedding rehearsal when I ended up here."

"That's awful!"

"Isn't it?  Well, Mione must be killing herself right now."

~*()*~

But Harry was far from the truth.  Instead of sitting at home, letting other people search for Harry, Hermione was doing it herself.  She was obviously the one in charge of the group, a job relinquished easily.  She was pumping Ron for information on how to get to the Core of the Elements.  Unfortunately, he had no idea how he got there. 

"Hermione, I've told you a hundred times already.  I have no idea!"

"But how did you get there?  There had to be some way."

"I thought we had gone over this already?" Draco asked.

"Shut up," Hermione replied, without even glancing at Draco.  She said it firmly, but not harshly.   "We are going to get to the Core of the Elements   if it is the last thing I do.  I will die trying to get to harry if I must."

And some unknown force, going against all gravitation laws, pulled Hermione, Ginny, Lavender, Ron and Draco off the ground and into the air, pulling them farther away from the place they called home.  


	7. Chapter Seven

Author's Note: Please review.  That is all I ask.  Flames are always welcome, as I know them under a different name: opinions.  Please tell me what you think.  Chapter Seven 

They were back in the Core.  He could feel it.  And he wasn't thrilled about being back amongst the Elements.  They had been welcoming enough, yet strangely inhospitable, as if they didn't want a mere mortal polluting their home.  

They looked like women, but they were made or water, wind, fire and earth.  How was that possible?  He put it on his list of things to ask Hermione to ask the Elements.  He sure wasn't going to ask them anymore than necessary.  

The Core flooded with light again, emanating from an unknown source that seemed to be from behind the walls of stone.

Hermione looked around with interest.  "Are you the Elements?" she asked curiously.  

Once again, Natura'ae said, "And who are you to ask questions of us, mortal?" 

"I am back with my friends," Ron said, speaking up.  The others, looking up in awe, obviously weren't going to.  

"Ah, yes, I remember you," Aura'ae said.  "You have returned to us.  But for what reason?" 

"We need to know how to get to Azkaban," Ron said.  

"Why would you want to go to that dismal place, filled with Death and Soul-Suckers?" Fidelia'ae inquired, sounding truly curious.  "It is not normally a place one would go to willingly."

Ron sighed, not wanting to go into details about the fight between Voldemort, and Harry being The Boy Who Lived and all. 

But Hermione had a different answer.  "I love him."

"That is reason enough," Aqua'ae said.  "More than reason enough.   But you, child, come here."  She was pointing at Hermione.  Hermione obeyed, hesitating only slightly.    

"Give me your hands," Aqua'ae commanded, using a tone of voice that suggested no other choice.  Hermione placed her hands in front of her, palms up.  

"Place them in the air, palms facing me."  She did so, and Aqua'ae put her hands next to them, palms touching and fingers spread.  A flash of blue light connected them and Hermione closed her eyes.  

"Open your eyes, child," Aqua'ae said.  "You are my descendent.  You are Water."

"I know," Hermione replied.  "What does that mean?"

Ron turned to Ginny, Draco and Lavender.  "What does that mean?" he mouthed to them.  They shrugged in response.  He turned his attention back to Aqua'ae and Hermione, who were still joined at the hands.  

"You can Summon Water," Aqua'ae explained.  "If you extend your hand, fingers slightly crooked in the way to cast spells, you can Summon water from your soul and it will flow from your fingertips.  And you are powerful enough to raise a finger and drown the world, then toss your hair and restore it.  Remember that." 

"But how exactly do I do this?" Hermione asked.

"You must discover that for yourself," Aqua'ae replied, then retreated back into the line of Elements.  

"You need to get to Azkaban, is that correct?" Natura'ae asked.  "But you cannot from here.  I trust you remember that, Ronald Michael Weasley.  

Ron nodded.  "But we still have to get there."

"You will.  Remember that Love will prevail.  You can get there, whatever route you choose.  You may go to the Vast Expanse.  Do you know how to Apparate?"

"I do," Hermione, said, as Draco followed with, "I do too."

"Only the two of you?  Then you must Apparate, while carrying the others.  But you must land in Water, as Azkaban is set on an island and is impenetrable to those trying Apparate or Disapparate."

"Like the Hogwarts grounds," Hermione muttered.

"Hermione, descendent of Water, you must drain the Water that is there quickly, so you may survive.  We send you now to the Vast Expanse.  Go with the magic."  

And they were carried away again, in a whirl of wind.

~*()*~

"I'm not sure I can do this." 

"Oh, Hermione, you have to!" Ginny wailed.  "It's our only chance of survival.  And we need to survive if you want to get to Harry."

They were referring to the fact that Hermione didn't feel that she could summon or banish Water.

"I have completely and utterly no idea how, not to mention that I didn't even know it was possible until mere moments ago!"

"Hermione," Ron said.  "Look at me, and let me convince you."  Hermione reluctantly looked up from her hands.

"Hermione Vivian Rebecca Granger, you are a graduated witch from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, and an exceptionally good one at that," he said.  "Anything you have ever tried to do, you have accomplished.  As Hagrid once said, '…they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can't do.'  You can do this, I know you can."

Hermione nodded, her eyes tearing.  "But it depends one me," she whispered, her eyes tearing.  "If I don't learn this, we all die."

"Ron nodded.  "That's a risk we are just going to have to be willing to take.  We trust you."

~*()*~

"Professor Dumbledore, sir!  Something is terribly wrong!"

Molly Weasley burst into Albus Dumbledore's office, hair frazzled and eyes wild, handbag swinging dangerously in her hand.

"Molly?  What's wrong?" Dumbledore asked as he looked up from the parchment he was reading.

"They're gone!" she cried.

"Please calm yourself," he said.  "And speak rationally.  What's wrong?  Who's gone?"

Mrs. Weasley sat herself in a chair opposite Dumbledore's desk and took a deep breath.  "All of them," she began.  "Ron and Lavender, Harry and Hermione, Ginny and Draco.  They disappeared after the rehearsal and I haven't seen them since."

"Ah, they went to rescue Harry.  He disappeared at the rehearsal itself, and all five of them went after him.  Apparently Hermione put the _Amorae Libertas_ on Harry during their fifth year here at Hogwarts, and she is using that to get to him.  They will be back soon.  Once they find him, and make sure he is in proper health, they will return to earth." 

"I know Hermione put the _Amorae_ on Harry.  I helped her do it.  But what do you mean, 'back to earth'?  Where did they go?  How do you know?"  Mrs. Weasley was beginning to look frazzled again.  

"There were taken off the face of our Earth to get to Harry.  Hermione will find him and do everything in her power to bring him back, I assure you of that."  Mrs. Weasley nodded, somewhat comforted by the aged professor's words.  "They will be fine," he assured her.

Molly Weasley nodded and left, still worried, but trying to remain positive that the six would return home, hopefully all in one piece.         

~*()*~

They stood in a circle, holding hands, trying to make the magic stronger.  If they Apparated together, holding hands, they would stay together.  Hermione and Draco placed spells on each person's hands to make them stay connected with the person's next to theirs.  Finally they were ready.  Everyone took a deep breath.  

"Ready?" Ron asked.  Ginny, Draco and Lavender nodded.  Hermione didn't move.  "Hermione?" he said gently.  

She started, as if coming out of a daze.  "I'm ready," she said determinedly.  "On the count of three.  One…two…three!" 

And they disappeared, Draco and Hermione Apparating, all of them putting their trust, their lives, in Hermione's power.

~*()*~

Something felt different.   Harry felt aware of a new presence.  It wasn't near him; it was actually somewhat far away.  But it was there just the same.  

He shook his head.  The small space and lack of food was really getting to him.  He couldn't count the days he had been there; there were no windows in his cell.  And Ariadne had been no help either.  She wasn't allowed out of the building, and couldn't even remember ever seeing the sky.  

The strange new presence grew even more intense, as if it was getting closer.  He closed his eyes, thinking he had cracked at last.

And he slept, dreaming of Hermione.  

~*()*~

They were underwater, drowning in it, it was forcing them under.  And each person was being pulled after the first, because they were connected to each other.      

Hermione needed air, but she couldn't open her mouth.  Water would rush in, killing her.  But her lungs were empty; she needed to fill them with _something_.  But then she would die, as well as killing everyone else too.  

No, no one would die, a voice argued.  Everyone was counting on her; she was their sole chance of survival.  And she was strong.  She had to drain the water that was surrounding her, get rid of it.  But the only thought she could process was that her lungs were burning, fiery ice.  She was incapable of doing anything.

Finally, she drifted into a strange state, like that milky condition the instant before we wake up.  The one moment we are truly ourselves, one emotion wrapped together in a tear.  

And she imagined the water disappearing.

And it did.  

She had done it.  They fell together to the ground, which had before been the bottom of the ocean.  They collapsed on top of each other, exhausted and breathing the sweet air, as if it were their last breath.    


	8. Chapter Eight

**A/N**: Please review.  I haven't had nearly as many reviews as I would have wished.  All I ask is an opinion.  Flames are welcome, as long as they are not unfounded. 

Chapter Eight 

Minutes later, when everyone's heartbeat and breathing had returned to a normal rate, Hermione sat up.  

"I did it!" she cried, her voice echoing into the silence.  "I taught myself how!"

"That's great, Mione," Ron muttered irritably.  "Now let me get back to sleep and sleep off this hangover."

Hermione looked over at Ron, sighed good-naturedly and said, "Everyone, get up!  We have to go rescue Harry now."

No one moved.  "Fine," she said to herself.  "I'll practice with Water."

She cupped her hands, and instantly she had a fine stream of Water running between her fingers.  She place done palm on top of the other, as if holding something between her hands, like an insect, and her two hands filled with Water.  She stretched her hands out, and the bubble grew.  One hand was as far down as possible, the other high above her head.  The bubble stretched to accommodate her hands.  

Hermione inhaled, and stepped inside the bubble.  All sound was cut off.  She couldn't breath, but she suddenly didn't need to.  She could see perfectly well, but not hear.  The bubble melded itself to the shape of her body, fitting her like a second skin.  

She watched as Ron sat up again, and looked over at her.  His mouth opened and he said something, but Hermione couldn't hear it.  But it looked like her name.  

She nodded; the bubble was completely flexible, and moved where she did. 

"What happened?" Ron seemed to ask.

Hermione decided to talk to him, to come out of her bubble and try to figure out what it was.  But, panicking, she realised she didn't know how.  Even as she clawed at the second skin around it, it stayed.  Ron just stared.  

Hermione tried to calm down.  Panicking would help nothing.  She closed her eyes and pictured her fingers.  They were pinching the Water Skin that surrounded her.  In her mind, it peeled away easily, then disappeared.  In reality, she pinched her fingers just as the ones in her mind did.     

The Skin peeled away.  

Hermione collapsed on the ground, exhausted.  Ron rushed over, trying to see what was wrong with her, and what on earth she had just done.  But the only thing Hermione said was, "I really don't know the extent of my powers, do I?"  Immediately after uttering this, she passed out, her head slumping right next to Ron. 

~*()*~

Ariadne was back, this time bringing food.  He attacked it, hungrier than he could ever remember being.

"We really aren't feeding you enough, are we?" Ariadne asked bemusedly.  "Either that or your table manners are atrocious and intolerable."

Harry grinned slightly.  "The former," he said, between mouthfuls. 

"I guessed as much."

They fell silent.  

A few moments later, Harry looked over at Ariadne.  "Hey, this morning, or night, or whatever time of day it was, did you feel different?"  

"What do you mean?" Ariadne asked, looking confused.

"Earlier, did you feel different? Like something was here that wasn't here before?"

"I don't haven any idea what you mean."

Harry paused, trying to think of a way to explain what he had felt.  "Well, earlier today, I was sitting here and leaning against the wall.  I felt like something had arrived here, something different.  It was a strange, but good feeling."

Ariadne stayed silent for a while.  Finally she said, "No, I can't say I felt it.  Now finish eating so I can take the plate back."

~*()*~

"What happened to her?" Lavender asked.  "Why did she pass out?"

Ron looked up.  "Well, I sat up, and she was surrounded by a bubble.  It was made of Water, so I think she made it herself.  It had attached itself to her, like a second skin.  And she could move in it, and it moved with her.  I stared at her, said her name, and she nodded.  Then she started panicking or something, though I don't know why.  She tried to take the Skin off, and it peeled away from her body.  She collapsed, said, "I really don't know the extent of my powers, do I?" then passed out.  That's all I know."  

No one said anything.  Draco merely leant over Hermione, pointed his wand at her and said, "Ennervate."  Her eyelids fluttered slightly, then opened.  

"Are you all right?" Ginny asked immediately.  

"I'm fine," Hermione said, sitting up and wincing slightly.  

"What happened?"

So Hermione told them of her newfound power.  "If I do it again could someone, or all of you, shoot hexes and spells and me?  I think the Water Skin is a protection against spells, but I may be wrong.  If it protects against spells, I may be able to fit all of us inside it, and we would be safe.  I know how to get out of it now, so I won't be stuck.  Would you?"  She looked at them pleadingly.  

"I'll do it," Lavender finally agreed.

"So will I," everyone else echoed.  

Hermione sent the Water running between her fingers again, and expanded the bubble.  She stepped inside the Water Skin once again.  This time, the loss of sense was expected.  

She saw Lavender hesitantly point her wand at the Skin and shout an incantation.  There was a burst of light, but nothing happened to Hermione.  The spell was absorbed in the Water.  Lavender looked surprised, and Hermione triumphant.  

Each person tried at least four different spells.  None of them could penetrate the Water Skin. 

A while later, Hermione stepped out.  The Skin shrank then disappeared, and Hermione was met with stares.  

"What's wrong?" she asked, curious to know what was the matter.  

"That Water thing is exactly what we need to get into Azkaban with!" Draco exclaimed.  "We'll be safe!  No spell could touch us.  It's a stroke of genius!  Hermione, you are a genius."

"I know," Hermione said.  "Now, let me see if it's even possible for all of us to fit inside the Water Skin.  It should stretch to accommodate us all, but I don't know.  But I'm not sure we'll be able to hear each other.  But we can try.  Come closer to me."  Everyone obeyed.  "Now, if it works, and we can all hear, we'll look for some way to get inside Azkaban.  All right?"

Hermione sent the Water running betwixt her fingers once again, but this time she wanted the Skin to cover more than just herself.  It grew larger and larger, and in seconds, they were all enclosed in Water.

"Can everyone hear me?" Hermione called, and her voice echoed and reechoed. 

"I can hear," everyone's voices came.  They also echoed, as if they were coming through water, which, Hermione mused with a smile, they were.  

"How are we going to get in Azkaban?" Ron asked, voicing the most obvious question of all, one they had been avoiding for quite a while.

Hermione opened her mouth, then closed it.  "I have absolutely no idea whatsoever," she said finally.

~*()*~

  Being a prisoner, even with a fellow fugitive who came to visit whenever she possibly could, gave one a lot of time to think.  And think Harry did.  For hours each day, or what he thought was day (it was impossible to tell without windows or doors to judge the passing of a day), Harry sat and thought.  Harry thought about life, death, love hate, his friends, but mostly he thought about Hermione.  He missed her more than he deemed possible.  He had no idea what had happened at their wedding rehearsal.  All he knew was that just as he had said the words "I do", he had been whisked away and disappeared.  He didn't know if Hermione were even alive, or if she were going to pieces.  He smiled to himself.  Hermione wasn't one to go to pieces.  She was probably scouring the earth, searching for him. 

Harry stood up, not even trying to resist the need to move.  The cell he had been placed in was tiny, and, despite never previously having been, Harry was beginning to grow claustrophobic.  He felt restless, and that something bug was going on that he didn't know about.  

If something had captured him, presumably Death Eaters, why weren't; they torturing him, trying to gain information or something to that extent?

Harry paced back and forth, back and forth, pondering these questions.  When he was unable to think of an answer, he went back to his thoughts on life and death.  These were much easier to think about.

But then it hit him.  What if none of his questions even _had_ and answer?

~*()*~

"Right, here's the plan," Draco said, after a heated argument on how to penetrate the fortress of Azkaban.  "We're just going to waltz right in, because none of their spells can touch us in this bubble thing."

"Unless one of them is also an Element" Hermione said.  "Which is highly unlikely but still possible."

"Why is that a problem?" Ron asked.  "Why does it matter?"

"Well, think about it," Hermione said.  "If one of them were a descendent of Fidelia'ae, she would be Earth.  Earth absorbs Water.  We would be doomed."

"What?  Why?" Lavender cried.  "I just explained why.  The Earth would absorb the Water and we would be defenceless."

"Well, it's highly unlikely one of them is a descendent of Fidelia'ae, right?" Lavender asked worriedly. 

"Right," Draco said decidedly.  "Now, are we going to mingle all day, or are we going anywhere?"

"Yeah, let's do it."

They began to walk, holding hands so as not to stretch the bubble too far.  But when they reached the gates, they hesitated.  The gates would still be taller if Draco stood on Ron's shoulders, Hermione on top of his, Lavender and Ginny on top of hers.  They were locked in five different places, but the spells were easy enough to undo.  Hermione began the counter curse for the bottom because she was shortest, with Ginny next, followed by Lavender, Draco and Ron.  When each lock had been undone, they looked at each other, a bit uneasily.

"On the count of go," Ron said.

"One," Ginny said calmly.

"Two!" Draco shouted.

"Three," Hermione whispered.

"GO!" all five of them yelled, as loudly as the bubble permitted.  And the gates swung open, permitting them entrance to the fortress of Azkaban.

Hermione gulped.  She was finally here; she was about to get to Harry.  But she was terrified.  


	9. Chapter Nine

Author's Note: Please review.  Flames are welcome, if not unfounded.  Fic originally written before OotP came out, though there are very few references.  

Chapter Nine  

They walked forward, slowly at first, but gaining confidence with each step.  There was a path, grey and worn.  They began to follow it, but it stopped abruptly, completely without warning.  

"Well, what do we do now?" Draco asked.  "The path seems remarkably unnecessary if it's just going to stop."

"Cut the sarcasm, Draco," Ginny said.  "It doesn't become you."

"Sorry," he said, not exactly sounding as if he meant it.

"Oh, aren't we irritable?" Ginny shot back.

"Knock it off, guys," Ron said, trying to break up the argument that was threatening to begin.  "If you hadn't noticed, we have a crisis on our hands."

"What crisis?" Lavender ask3d.  "I didn't think rescuing Harry was that much of a crisis.  We aren't technically in danger yet."

"Can we just move on?" Hermione cut in.  "We still have to find Harry and get him out of here, all of us still intact."

"Good plan," Draco muttered.  

"Draco!  You are going to shut up now, or I will drown you."

Draco glared in response, but when he realised it was to no effect, he stopped.

"Well, if I were a Death Eater, where would I put Harry?" Lavender mused aloud as they continued to walk.  "In a dungeon, I suppose.  It makes sense."

"Wait!" Hermione cried, about fifty paces later.  "The spell!"

"The spell?" Ginny repeated blankly.

"Yes!  The Amorae Libertas!  I can sense Harry if I keep chanting the incantation.  Or something like that.  I think I remember the book saying something like that…" she trailed off.  

"Reassuring," Draco muttered, but no one was paying enough attention to hear him.

"Well, try it," Ron said.  "It's the only thing we've got, right now."

"All right, I'll try it," Hermione said.  "But I'm not sure if it will work."  She closed her eyes, and the words came easily to her tongue.  "Amorae Libertas Coure Salve Amorae.  Amorae Libertas Course Salve Amorae."

Her voice had a rhythmic quality to it, like the swaying of a boat, the tides of the ocean or the path of a glacier.

_Strange_, Ron thought, _how everything about her reminds me of water.  Well, not_ very _strange, I suppose, considering that's what she is_.  

Hermione began to move, her feet gliding gently.  She broke the rhythm only once, quickly saying, "Follow me."

They obeyed.  It wasn't hard to follow her.  She was moving slowly, swaying back and forth, back and forth, chanting, chanting, always speaking.  No one knew when she drew breath.  

She led them down corridors, twisting, curving, bending, never straight.  Each corridor looked the same; no one could figure out how she knew where she was going—or how they were going to get back out of the labyrinth or corridors to escape.  Finally she halted next to a bare stretch of wall.

"He's behind here!" she said, frantically clawing at the wall.  "I can feel him, he's right there.  I can picture him, his outline.  I've come to know him so well.  I can see his face, his expression, the way he's sitting.  Oh, open up!"    

Hermione continued her frenzied clawing until Draco drew her away from the wall.

"Here's an idea," he said.  "Each of these cells are made specifically.  There's a door on the outside, but none on the inside.  Why don't we walk right over there"—Draco pointed—"And open it?"  

Hermione's face held a look of bewilderment for a few seconds, then realization dawned on her as she came back to her senses.  She nodded.  

Draco walked to the door, turned the knob and it swung open easily.  

"I keep telling you all," he said.  "I am always right, but no one ever listens to me."

The other five followed him, and rushed into the room.

"Oh, Harry!" Hermione cried, when she saw him.  "Are you all right?"  She already had tears springing to her eyes.

But Harry didn't even look up from the wall he was staring at.  

"Harry?" Hermione asked again.  But then she remembered that they were wearing the Water Skin.  It shut off all sound. 

"We have to get out of this thing!" Hermione yelled.

"Mione, calm down so you can get us out of here.  We can't.  Once you do, you can talk to Harry," Ron said, speaking rationally.   

Hermione closed her eyes and peeled away the Water Skin, messing up twice because of excitement.  

"Harry!" she finally shouted, when she had finally gotten it off of them.

"Hermione?" Harry said, looking unbelieving.  "Is that really you?  Or another hallucination?"

"You've been having hallucinations?  Oh, that isn't good.  In the book we used in seventh year for Magical Methods of Healing it said…"

"Yeah, it's you.  You're about to start quoting the book, aren't you?" Harry asked, standing up.  Hermione stopped, mid-sentence, for she had indeed been about to begin quoting the book.

"Oh, Harry, you're all right!  You would not believe what we had to do to get here."  With that said, Hermione flung her arms around Harry's neck and kissed him.  

"Aww, how sweet," Ginny said from the door.    

"All right," Draco said, sidling up to her and putting an arm around her waist.  Ron did the same to Lavender.  Harry and Hermione didn't even move from each other's embrace.  

"Love you," Harry whispered.  "I dreamed of you every time I slept."

"I love you too, though I haven't slept since we left.  Not eaten."

"Ariadne brings me food," Harry said.  

"Ariadne?" Hermione asked, drawing away slightly.

"Yeah, she's the daughter of some Death Eaters.  She wants to escape, so I thought we could help her.  We were already planning a way out, so now that you guys are here, you can help.  She never got a Hogwarts education.  All the spells she knew before I got here were illegal.  And she can't leave.  She's never even seen the sky."

"That's awful," Hermione murmured.  "We'll take her with us."

"I knew you would agree."

~*()*~

Mother was calling again.  It was time for yet another lesson in the Dark Arts.  

Ariadne jogged down the corridors to the chambers reserved for her lessons.  As the youngest Death Eater, she was granted special privileges and permissions.  Moreover, Voldemort liked her quite a bit and said she showed potential, making her mother proud.  

Truth be told, Ariadne liked her lessons with the prisoner, Harry, better.  He was much less harsh, and the spells he taught actually seemed to have other uses than killing someone.  But she didn't have a choice.  She just followed orders.  

As Ariadne entered the chamber called her classroom, she saw her mother standing in the middle of the room.

"Hello Ariadne," her mother said, voice void of all emotion.  "You are thirty seconds late.  Do better next time."        

"I am sorry mother," Ariadne replied, also emptying her voice of emotion.  "I was with the prisoner."

"Then I have no choice but to excuse you.  But it will not happen again.  Now, stand in the centre of the room and show me what you remember from our last lesson."

~*()*~

"Is this girl coming back anytime soon?" Draco asked a while later.  Harry and Hermione had finally moved, and now they were sitting and conversing quietly in the corner.

"What?" Draco sighed and repeated his query.  

"Oh, yeah, she'll be back soon."

"How soon?" Draco persisted.

"Very."  Harry didn't elaborate.  

Draco sighed again, and went back to sit next to Ginny, leaning against a wall.  Ron and Lavender followed suit.  Harry and Hermione just kept talking, Hermione once in a while making a gesture or two, and once Summoning Water and letting it dance in her fingers.  

"Harry?" a voice timidly asked, about half an hour later.

"Ariadne!" Harry said, standing up.  "Everyone is here now.  We can escape!"

"Oh, good!" Ariadne's face lit up.  "We have to go, now.  There will be no one in the entrance hall, because it's a mealtime.  There will only be a few guards and we can avoid, or Stun, them easily."

"Already?" Hermione asked, surprised.  "We have to leave now?"

"If you want to get out alive, we do," Ariadne replied, sounding surprisingly determined.

"That would be preferable," Draco said lightly.  

Ariadne barely glanced his way before saying, "Wait, shouldn't you introduce me so I know names?"  

"Oh, sorry," Harry said.  "Ariadne, this is Hermione, my fiancée and the love of my life.  The giant redhead is Ron, who was my first and best friend.  Lavender is the girl next to Ron, she is marrying him.  Ginny is the other redhead, she's Ron's sister.  Ginny is marrying Draco, the only person left in the room."

"Well, that was nice.  Go ahead, say something about everone except me."

"All right, I hated Draco until sixth year."

"Thanks," Draco grumbled.

"Anytime.  Everyone, this is Ariadne.  Suffice it to say, she will be escaping with us."

Everyone nodded to each other.

"All right, let's go," Ariadne said, clapping her hands.  A door appeared at the sound.  

"Wait, we need a Water Skin," Hermione said.

"What's that?" Ariadne asked.  "I've never heard of one."

"No time to explain," Hermione said hurriedly.  "It would take to long.  I've already explained to Harry.  Just take someone's hand and let me do the work."

Hermione Summoned Water and soon had it cupped in her palm.  Ariadne yelped and backed away.

"It's only Water," Hermione soothed.

"I know.  It's just that I'm terrified of water.  It's probably because…when I was young I tried to escape once before and I almost drowned in the water surrounding the island.  Please, just let me go outside your bubble, and I'll tell anyone who asks that I am moving you to another cell on my mother's orders. Most Death Eaters are too stupid to notice there are six of you in there instead of one."

"All right," Hermione consented grudgingly.  "I hope it works."

She resumed making the Water Skin, and when it was complete, she stepped in with everyone else following her lead.

"You know," Lavender said, the last to step in, just before she pulled her head in,  "We won't be able to hear anything you say, and vice versa."

"That's all right," Ariadne assured her.  "I'll use actions an gestures, and so can you.  It'll be fine.  Just follow me.  I know my way around here better than anyone."

Lavender nodded and stepped all the way into the Water Skin.  

~*()*~

The Water Skin moulded itself to fit them, stretching and shaping itself.  When it had finished writhing, Ron spoke.  

"She can't hear us, right?"

"Right.  Why?"

"I don't like her.  I don't trust her."

"Why not?" Harry asked, surprised.  "I probably would have died if she hadn't brought me part of her food.  I would have died of starvation."

"You haven't been here that long," Lavender pointed out.  

"Well, I'd still be very hungry," Harry said.  "Why don't you trust her, Ron?"

"Because she seems untrustworthy.  Why is she a Death Eater if she doesn't want to be?"

"Her mother is and is forcing her."

"Oh, that makes perfect sense," Ron said, words dripping with sarcasm.

"Can we shut up?" Ginny snapped.  "We have to follow Ariadne whether we like it or not, so can we please do it in peace?"

Ron grumbled for a second, but stopped with a glare from everyone. 

"Look," Draco said, pointing.

Ariadne was waving them forward, looking around nervously every couple of seconds.  

"What's she saying?" harry asked.  "I can't read lips."

"Neither can I," Hermione replied, "But I can guess she is saying 'Come on!' os something like that.  Let's follow, quickly."

They set out, back down the twisting corridors, whispering, even though no one could hear.  And unawares of the horrors in store.   


	10. Chapter Ten

Author's Note: Please review.  I am down to my last resort.  I *will* beg you.  I am desperate, and starved for reviews.  Flames are welcome, as always, if not unfounded.

As this fic was begun before OotP came out, there may be slight references to stuff that has been proven wrong.  Please ignore them, and consider this fic an AU.  I don't think there are many, but just thought I would forewarn you.   

**Chapter Ten**

They were hurrying, almost running, down the corridors of Azkaban.  Ariadne kept motioning to them, telling them to go even faster.

"Do Death Eaters normally go that fast?" Ron asked, his voice low.  He had refused to speak in normal tones, convinced Ariadne could hear them.  He had also refused to even try and pretend he liked her, while everyone else pitied the girl and had taken an instant liking to her.  She had charisma.   

"Ron, could you please shut up?" Ginny asked, her tone indicating that if he didn't, she would hurt him.  

"I don't trust her," Ron muttered quietly.  But not quietly enough.

"Shut up!" the others yelled as they whirled around to face him.  Ron shrank back as far as the Water Skin would allow.  

"Fine, but when we get killed, don't blame me.  You can only blame yourselves."

~*()*~

Ariadne sighed, but kept running.  They would never be there in time, if they kept slowing down, or stopping altogether to yell at each other.  True, she couldn't hear what they were saying, but based on their gestures and body language, she surmised they were arguing.  Rather heatedly.

Ariadne motioned quickly once again with her left arm as she turned a corner.

"Hurry up," she muttered.  "We aren't going to get there in time."

~*()*~

"Ron, we need someone to trust.    Without Ariadne to show us the way out, we would be totally lost, doomed to wander until we eventually stumbled across the gate out.  And this place is so massive, we would never find it.  Eventually, word would get out that the prisoner was missing, and guards would be posted everywhere.  Just because no spell can touch us in here doesn't mean we can stay in here forever."

Ron finally nodded, agreeing at last.  "All right, Harry," he said.  "But I still don't trust her enough to be comfortable."

"And that is your opinion," Harry said shortly.  "Now, come on.  Ariadne already turned that corner."

"It's an ambush," Ron said immediately.  "Every single Death Eater in this godforsaken place is waiting around that corner, ready to kill us." 

"I'm sure they aren't," Draco said.  "But if it makes you feel any better, we can put you at the back of our safe little bubble."

"Water Skin," Hermione corrected absently.  "Ron, you can go to the back if you like."

Ron grumbled, but stayed in the centre.  

"All right, on the count of jump, we jump around the corner.  Understand?" Hermione said.  "One…two…three…jump!"

They followed her command, leaping around the corner, wands drawn.  It was completely deserted.  There was not a soul in sight.

Not even Ariadne.

"""Where is she?" Lavender asked.  'There's no way she could have gone that fast."

"Unless she sprinted," Draco said.  "And I don't know why she would want to."

"She abandoned us," Ron said, always the optimist.  "That's why she sprinted.  She left us here to die.  We are lost in Azkaban, with no way of knowing the way out."

Suddenly, out of the corner of his eyes, Harry saw something moving.  He whirled, and saw Ariadne standing there with an apologetic look on her face.  She started saying something, and he squinted to make it out by reading her lips.

"She said 'Sorry, I thought you were right behind me'", Hermione said.

"A likely story," Ron sneered.  

"Ron Weasley, if you say one more word, I will strangle you," Ginny said without turning around.  Ron made a slight noise of dissent, but didn't speak aloud.

Ariadne motioned for them to follow once again, and set off.  

"She'd be a great sprinter," Lavender said.  "Any track team would be dying to get her on it."

Those not Muggle-born gave her a quizzical look, but continued on.  

Ariadne went around another corner, and Ron moaned," We're all gonna die!  We are gonna die!  At Azkaban of all places!"

"Ron, listen to me," Harry commanded, taking Ron by the shoulders and shaking him.  "Absolutely no spell known to wizard kind can penetrate the Water Skin.  And we can see out and know what's coming before they even know what we are.  They also cannot hear a word we say.  So shut up!"

Ron shrank even farther back.  

"Can we follow Ariadne now?" Draco asked.  "She must think we're a pack of morons because we seem to be incapable of following her."

"Okay, new rule," Lavender broke in.  "The next person who complains, argues or is just acting like a pig, I am going to curse into next week.  Understand?"

Everyone nodded, not quite willing to test that threat.

They kept moving.  Every corridor they followed Ariadne through grew more and more depressing and/or menacing.  Some had spears and knives decorating the walls, all covered in dried blood.  Others had terrible portraits, depicting men chasing each other through the frames, seeing who could decapitate the other first.

"Cheerful place," Draco commented.  Lavender turned around, ready to hurt Draco and perhaps speed him along to meeting his untimely demise, but Hermione cut her off.  "Can we please just keep going?" she begged.  "We're almost there."

"How do you know?" Draco asked.  

"Because we are taking so much longer to get out than we took to get in, because we are stopping so much to argue.  The less we argue, the faster we get out of here."

That shut everyone up.  The idea of getting out of Azkaban, and back in open air where it was safe, appealed to everyone.  So they finally followed Ariadne in silence, no one arguing or protesting, but unknowingly quickening their pace and moving faster and faster.

~*()*~

Ariadne grinned to herself.  They were almost there.  Then she would be rewarded for all the abuse she endured for fifteen years.  For everything she had gone through in life, she would be rewarded.  

That is, if the group behind her would finally hurry up.  She stopped, again, waiting for them to finish their argument.  

She watched as the blond boy, Draco, began speaking, a pleasant look on his face.  She was pretty sure each word out of his mouth dripped with sarcasm.  Everyone got angry, until about five minutes later, when they calmed, wearing determined and hopeful looks on their faces.  

"Finally," she muttered.  She motioned, once again, and took off, at a quicker pace than before.

Surprisingly, they kept her pace, even when she moved faster and faster, until she was almost at a sprint. 

"Well, at least they're keeping up," she whispered, before turning down another corridor, this even darker than the previous ones.

~*()*~

"Oh, no," Ron muttered under his breath.

"What now?" Ginny asked wearily, ready for an onslaught of complaining.

"I am telling you, were are going to die.  There is no way we will survive."

"No, we aren't!" Hermione shouted.  "Ron, you are really getting repetitive.  We have heard this, over and over.  Can we just keep moving?"

"We can, but I have a terrible feeling about this," Ron said.  

"Oh, you are your 'terrible feelings'," Lavender sighed.  "Come on."  She grabbed him by the wrist and literally dragged him along behind her.  He made no protest, only groaned once more.  

Hermione sighed, and began walking.  Draco, Ginny and Harry took up the pace, and Lavender followed suit, dragging Ron with her.  They rounded the corner.  And screamed.  

~*()*~

They were right where she wanted them.  They were hesitant, which made them even easier to convince.  Ariadne grinned even more widely.  She was sure she looked maniacal, but didn't care.  It was _her_ chance to win the favour, her chance to gain credit for what she had done.  For she had led them here by herself.  

She had deceived the Potter boy.  Made him think she wanted to rid herself of the Death Eater life she had led.  Ariadne snorted in disgust.  Why would she want to get rid of this life?  She lived and breathed to be accepted as a Death Eater, to win the Dark Lord's favour.

She had gained the trust of all six of them.  Oh, how sweet vengeance is.

~*()*~  

Death Eaters.  Hundreds of them.   Masses gathered, hundreds of them, wands drawn and pointing right at them.  Ariadne had led them right into a mass of Death Eaters.    

"Oh my God," Hermione said.  "She betrayed us.  All of us."

"You know," Ron said.  "This would be the perfect opportunity to say 'I told you so'.  But being the person I am, I won't."

"Thanks," Draco snapped.  

Harry only stared at the scene of horror in front of him.  "I can't believe this.  I trusted her.  And look what she did.  Ron, you were right.  Why didn't we listen to you."

"That is exactly what I have been asking myself since we stepped out of that dungeon," Ron said.  "Though I will admit I was being irrational.  She never gave us any reason not to trust her.

"Except the fact that she was living on Death Eater territory!" Hermione said.   "Why didn't we realise it?"

"Realise what?" Ginny asked.

"That she was a fraud!  Why didn't we see it?  She's a Death Eater, obviously.  She lives here, and fed us some story about being forced to be a Death Eater.  If you refuse to become a Death Eater, you're killed.  You don't hang around Azkaban doing odd jobs.  Oh, we are such imbeciles!"

"You can say that again," Harry said.  As Hermione opened her mouth again, he quickly added, "It's an expression."

"So, as much as we would like to argue about this," Draco cut in, "we really   have to think of a plan, preferably one that gets us out alive."

"It's simple," Hermione said.  Her voice shook, but she stood resolute.

"Come again?" Ron asked, blinking.  

"No spell can touch us.  We're safe in the Water Skin."

"I hope you're right," Ginny said, looking over the hundred of Death Eaters, brown eyes wide.  "I truly hope you're right."


End file.
